Happy Australia Day!

Although Australia's best known beer is justly condemned by foreigners and locals alike, the lucky country offers some of the new world's finest beers. Regrettably, this organ A Good Beer Blog does not (yet) have an Australian correspondent, leaving the task up to this Singapore-based blogger. Most of the continent's finest brews never get farther than local microbreweries and bottleshops, but thankfully recently passed free-trade legislation has allowed more of Australia's ales and lagers to flow into this city state - never again question that free trade is a good thing.

For starters, Sydney's Malt
Shovel Brewery produces some of Oz's finest brews. Two are available locally in Singapore, the James Squire Original Amber Ale and James
Squire Pilsner. The first is pleasant amber with a wonderfully creamy head, smooth mouthfeel and nutty finish. The brewery's website describes
it quite well:

The first brew from the Malt Shovel Brewery is an amber ale, branded James Squire in honour of Australia's first brewer, who first
brewed beer in Sydney in 1794. This premium hand-crafted ale is a unique brew of three malts and three tasmanian hops added late to the kettle plus an original 125 year old, top fermenting ale yeast, creating an easy-drinking, deep copper-coloured ale with distinct richness, creamy head, and a slightly
utty finish.

Brewer tasting notes: A blend of pale, crystal and carapils malts produces a distinctive
coppery colour, rich malt sweetness and persistent creamy head. The flavour is very ale-like with a lingering slightly nutty finish. Willamette hops are added late in the kettle boil for a refreshing
citrus (almost grapefruit) hop character.

The pilsner is equally impressive – particularly given the regrettable adoption of the term by middling international lagers. MSB makes a pilsen with a long-lasting creamy head:

The key to the distinctive flavour of James Squire Original
Pilsener is the use of quality ingredients. Using a much higher hopping level than most Australian lagers, it's brewed with Czech Saaz and New Zealand Belgian Saaz aroma hops to produce the pronounced floral spicy
finish and wonderful herbaceous aroma. A blend of pale malt from Tamworth and Munich malt from Ballarat,with
no sugar, produces the rich mellowness and rounded palate to balance the hoppy bitterness. The colour is a distinctive golden brilliance.

MSB also make a glorious porter. It is not yet available here - but anyone making a visit to Australia should try it.

The Sunshine
Coast Brewery is less impressive, judging from the samples of Noosa Premium Wheat Ale and Robinsons Chilli Beer. Lisa sampled the 'wheat' beer – which was clearer in color than most other wheat ales, and incredibly light. Had it not come in a clearly
labeled beer bottle, I may have mistaken it for water. There's a slight musty scent and it finished with a very, very, slight hint of lemon. The website
notes:

This is a delightfully light and crisp wheat based beer that is easy to drink and a favorite for both the gents and ladies. We use
the top fermentation process to achieve a clean crisp and very refreshing Ale that may be served with a slice of lemon or lime.

To which Lisa commented: "Uh huh, it needs a slice of lemon to give it some flavor." Still, she noted that it was inoffensive and easy to drink... "I could drink a dozen of these, it's like water."

It's more or less like making love in a canoe. Consider it a 'girl'
beer. Others who have sampled this one have called it an Aussie
Corona. The chilli beer was, to be charitable, marginally better – if only because it did have some flavor. It wasn't much of a flavor, just a hint of chilli with an acidic aftertaste. Bleah. Clearly not the best Oz has to offer.

Maureen Ogle said this about the book: "... immensely readable, sometimes slightly surreal rumination on beer in general and craft beer in particular. Funny, witty, but most important: Smart. The beer geeks will likely get all cranky about it, but Alan and Max are the masters of cranky..."

Ron Pattinson said: "I'm in a rather odd situation. Because I appear in the book. A fictional version of me. It's a weird feeling."

Alan is apparently a Gen X-er who has hit 40... err...44... err... 45... YIKES... 46 ... [ZOW-WEE!!] 48... jessh, now 51... and edits and writes about other stuff at his personal website Gen X at 40. Please email Alan or any of the authors at this blog's gmail account - please write if you want to join the ranks of authors of this site or just want to send in a story on your favorite beer or photo of your regular pub.

I have moved the content of the OCB Commentary Wiki here. It is now a static document and pretty much is locked in as understandings existed as of 2012. Probably needs its own wiki to update the content! Below are the original introductory remarks:

"The purpose of this wiki is to collectively make comments, add annotation, identify errata and suggest further sources to the text of The Oxford Companion to Beer. Members are asked to avoid comment about the authors, the structure of the text or other extraneous matters. This wiki is a not for profit project that reviews the text pursuant to the concept of "fair dealing for the purpose of criticism or review" under Canadian copyright law." Alan McLeod, wiki Organizer, and chief bottle washer at A Good Beer Blog. Motto? "Many hands make pleasant work." Alan McLeod, 25 October 2011. Please provide some information about yourself when making a request to join the wiki. Anonymous requests for membership will not be approved. Overly ardent and rudely put claims to authority will be cause for removal from the membership. As of 11 January 2012, 134 entries or 12.2% of the total of 1,100 received commentary, many with multiple comments. Eight of the photos have been corrected as well. That number rose to 151 by 13 May 2012.